10 Years
by beanboy21
Summary: "I will never understand your love for the mortals, but their pain was your own, and yours was mine. Would that I had halted sooner just to ease your pain… but alas I could not. The fear of losing these nightly meetings, our only contact, was too much for me. "


I see you, you know.

I see you waning; growing smaller every day you to go without their love… and mine is no substitute.

They used to love you.

They used to sing your praises and throw at your feet the most lavish of gifts! They prayed to you nightly and _begged_ for you to protect them!

And they loved you, or at least, I thought they did. After all, how much could they love you if they forgot you so soon after our arrangement? How long did it take? A decade? No. Not even _ten years_ and already they forgot the sacrifices you made for them.

Ungrateful wretches.

If not for you I would still spend my nights spreading terror among their miserable kind! They would continue to offer me sacrifices and beg for my mercy! And they would fear me.

And I would revel in it.

But no! I gave that up for you, all for you.

I will never understand your love for the mortals, but their pain was your own, and yours was mine. Would that I had halted sooner just to ease your pain… but alas I could not. The fear of losing these nightly meetings, our only contact, was too much for me. So to my shame, I continued to cause them pain.

To cause _you_ pain.

To cause myself pain.

Oh how it hurt to see your face every single night when you learned what I did in your absence… but at least I still saw you.

So I sought for a way to satisfy us both, a way to see you without having to draw you out.

My moon went by three times while I pondered this dilemma. I wonder how you felt about the respite. Were you glad of it? Or were you apprehensive, waiting for me and guessing at my next move? Regardless, I doubt you were prepared for what came after. Since you claim you were unaware of my love until that moment.

The solution I came to was surprisingly simple. I cannot believe I did not think of it before. Of course, it would never have worked on anyone else. Only you love the humans enough to wed the Lord of Terror for their sake. For no matter how you despise me, they mean too much for you to pass up this opportunity.

They noticed quickly enough that I no longer plagued their dreams. That their nights were bright and beautiful under the light of the moon instead of dark and terrible as I went through such pains to convinced them.

Your blessings were finally shining through.

"How"? They wondered.

"Did you defeat him"? They asked.

You could have lied, told them that after a great struggle you proved victorious. After all, they would not know the difference. But honesty is such a part of you, and you could not deceive them.

You told them everything.

And they praised you. For never in their wildest dreams did they imagine you loved them enough to offer yourself as sacrifice.

And they wept for you. For you would not weep for yourself.

The prayers and offerings you received grew in number, even as mine dwindled. For now they had no reason to fear me, and I was never loved as you were.

But that was fine. What did I need them for? I had you now, and that was what mattered.

For three years it seemed as if I had thought up the perfect arrangement. You of course were not pleased, but over time grew more amicable toward me. That is, of course, until their prayers slowed.

You did not say anything, but I saw how hurt you were.

"It is fine." I told myself. "Of course they would be more thankful when the news was fresh. The number of offerings will cease to plummet soon, and she will be pleased again."

But the losses did not cease… they increased, and you slipped farther and farther away.

"It is fine." You told me, holding back a tear. "They do not need me anymore. It was selfish to expect their praise forever."

I remember rushing out before my anger boiled over.

How dare they? How _dare_ they!? You gave up so much to lift their curse, and continue to pay the price for their freedom even now!

And they have the gall to _forget_ you?

Miserable Worms! They will all **PAY!**

But… You prefer it this way, don't you? You would suffer yourself, so that they do not have to.

I wrack my dark mind for a solution to this dilemma. Some way to bring that beautiful smile of yours back… But no matter how hard I try I can think of only one way. The one choice I fear above all others.

I must go back on my word.

I must lose you.

For the only way to bring you back to what you were is for them to worship you once again. And there is only one way to bring that about.

I must once again become the villain.

Once again I must be the Shadow on the Moon, the Lord of Darkness, and the Nightmare's Herald… Once again I must be your foe.

After all, beggars can't be choosers, and you mean nothing to me as you are now.

So tonight I take up my mantle, with the knowledge that you will do the same.

And I pray, my love, through your wrath and through your pain, you know that what I do, I do all because of you.

* * *

First of all I must thank you for reading this. It is the first story I have posted and I hope you enjoyed it.

I always enjoyed the stories where Darkrai was a slightly creepy/evil guy, and wanted to do a one sided lunareclipseshipping with him. There may be more oneshots about them eventually, but it will depend on how much people liked this one and if I am inspired enough to be able to do them well.

So thank you once again, and have a nice day.


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